Overview

This guide explains how the Kamino delivery system works and provides practical information for users to monitor and optimize their campaigns. It covers the key concepts of priorities, capping, and pacing, showing how each setting affects campaign delivery.

Priorities

When you create a campaign on the Kamino platform, each line item is assigned a priority that determines its weight and affects how likely it is to be selected on the retailer's website. By default, all line items are assigned Normal priority, but you can change this on the campaign editing page. Changes take effect immediately.

Available priority levels:

• Normal: assigns a weight of 2.
• High: assigns a weight of 10.

Priorities by pricing model

Priority settings affect the weight of line items using CPM formats (such as display or video). Priority doesn't affect line items using a CPC bidding system.

For fixed pricing models (Lockout), the distribution is random. If you schedule two fixed-price line items on the same page, the engine displays them randomly without considering priority.

Capping

You can cap the delivery of a line item for recognized, opt-in unique visitors. This cap doesn't apply to opt-out users. Select one of the following options:

• Three impressions per day per unique visitor
• Five impressions per day per unique visitor
• No capping

Pacing

Pacing determines how the delivery engine allocates your budget. You can choose from the following strategies:

• Adaptive pacing: automatically adjusts daily spend to compensate for under-delivery.
• ASAP: allocates the entire budget as quickly as possible.
• Custom pacing: sets a fixed daily spend for precise control.
• Daily budget: spreads the budget evenly over the specified campaign dates.

The following table shows the available pacing strategies for each campaign type:

Daily budget pacing

In daily budget mode, the engine segments delivery by day and hour:

1. The engine divides the total budget by the number of campaign days.
2. For each day, the engine assigns an hourly delivery target based on expected site traffic. The engine allocates more budget during high-traffic hours.
3. The engine recalculates the daily target every day. If a line item under-spends, the engine carries the remaining budget over to the following days, increasing their delivery targets.

Adaptive pacing

Adaptive pacing automatically adjusts the daily spend to catch up on under-delivery. This mode is available for guaranteed and sponsored product workflows. 

On the first day, the engine divides the budget evenly across the campaign duration. 

If a line item under-delivers, the platform applies the full missed budget to the next day to catch up as quickly as possible. If it over-delivers, the platform reduces or pauses delivery the next day to stay on track. In contrast, daily pacing spreads any delay evenly across the remaining days for a consistent delivery curve. 

The adjustment is automatic and temporary; it doesn't change the line item's priority. Significant under-delivery might cause delivery spikes. Delivery is always limited by the available inventory on targeted pages.

ASAP mode

In ASAP mode, the engine spends the budget as fast as possible without daily smoothing. Delivery ends when the budget is exhausted or the campaign reaches its end date.

Custom pacing

Custom pacing allows you to set a fixed daily AdSpend amount. This mode is available in the sponsored product workflow and requires a total campaign budget.

The following rules apply to custom pacing:

• The line item attempts to spend the exact specified amount each day.
• Unspent amounts don't roll over. If a line item under-delivers, the target for the next day remains the original custom amount.
• Consistent under-delivery might lead to total campaign under-delivery. Monitor the On Target rate and adjust the daily spend if necessary. 

Pacing modes summary

The following table summarizes the available pacing modes, outlining their behavior, benefits, budget allocation logic, and key considerations.

Interaction between pacing and capping

Pacing and capping use different delivery systems. If you set a line item to ASAP mode, the engine doesn't increase its priority or its chance of being selected.

Hourly budget allocation

The delivery engine uses historical traffic curves to distribute the daily budget. More budget is allocated during peak hours, typically in the late afternoon and evening.

The following list shows the approximate hourly allocation logic:

• 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.: 1% per hour (5% cumulative).
• 6 a.m.: 2% (7% cumulative).
• 7 a.m.: 3% (10% cumulative).
• 8 a.m.: 4% (14% cumulative).
• 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.: 5.5% per hour (~58% cumulative).
• 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.: 7% per hour (~86% cumulative).
• 9 p.m.: 7% (93% cumulative).
• 10 p.m.: 6% (99% cumulative).
• 11 p.m. to 12 a.m.: Remaining 1% (subject to rounding).

Example of daily pacing with ASAP mode

This section explains how the system reallocates budgets when multiple line items interact.

Line item delivery logic

Day 1

The global category budget potential is higher than the sum of all line item budgets. Because LI A1 uses ASAP pacing, it spends €1,100 instead of the calculated €1,000 (€5,000 / 5 days).

• Remaining budget: €700 (€5,000 total - €4,300 total LI budgets).
• Priority impact: LI B2 has a high priority, giving it five times more chances to be displayed than other line items.
• Overspending: LI B2 overspends by €500 on day 1. LI A1 and LI B3 also overspend by €100 each.

Day 2

The new daily budget for LI A1 should be €975 ([€5,000 - €1,100] / 4 days remaining). However, the global category potential is high again, so LI A1 spends €1,800.

Day 3

The new daily budget for LI A1 should be €700 ([€5,000 - €1,100 - €1,800] / 3 days remaining). In this instance, the category cannot absorb all line item budgets. Due to its priority, LI A1 spends only €640.

Day 4

The new daily budget for LI A1 should be €730 ([€5,000 - €1,100 - €1,800 - €640] / 2 days remaining). The category registers higher traffic on day 4. Because LI A1 uses ASAP pacing and based on its priority, it spends €1,460. It completes its €5,000 objective one day before the end date.

The system applies this logic to all line items. Delivery results vary based on the interactions between line items, priorities, and capping.

Example of daily budget delivery

It is important to understand how budget delivery works when you set a line item to daily pacing. The delivery system divides the total budget evenly across the number of days in the campaign. For each day, it distributes the daily budget hourly based on known traffic potential. This process aims to deliver more during peak hours (for example, midday) and less during off-peak hours (for example, overnight).

Example: initial calculation

If a line item has a €1,000 budget over 10 days, the algorithm initially aims to deliver €100 per day.

Example: recalculation due to underdelivery

If the system delivers only €100 instead of the expected €300 by the end of day 3, it recalculates the daily delivery target based on the remaining budget and time:

(€1,000 - €100) / (10 - 3) = €900 / 7 = approximately €129 per day.

The system performs this recalculation hourly. When a line item falls behind its pacing, the daily and hourly delivery targets increase to compensate for the underdelivery. This increase happens progressively and is spread evenly across the remaining campaign duration.

As a result, the €200 underdelivered by day 3 isn't rushed out at once the next day. Instead, it is redistributed over the rest of the campaign. At any moment (day 4, 5, or 6), it might appear that the line item is struggling to deliver, while it is actually catching up to its initial pacing plan.